


It's Called Purgatory

by madcapdragonshenanigans



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 18:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11789328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madcapdragonshenanigans/pseuds/madcapdragonshenanigans
Summary: Not everything in Purgatory could bring on an apocalypse within fifteen minutes, at least that's what Nicole told herself, and sometimes regular crimes happen too.  Break ins, vandalism, robbery, body snatching... Well maybe the last one wasn't regular, but in Purgatory she would count anything that might not be demon related as normal.Until of course it is demon related.When a local break in and a robbery from the local hospital become connected and lead Nicole into an investigation on Wyatt Earp, Theodore Roosevelt, and demons that can resurrect the dead, she will do anything to keep this case her own as well as help with whatever impending apocalypse shows up next.





	1. Since When Were Break-Ins a Relief?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! So, some of you may or may not be aware of the follow along mystery about a case of Nicole's that's on the Wynonna Earp website. This fic is based on that, and will hopefully help expand and tie that story into the show, as well as stand on its own. Hope you like it!

Hindsight 20/20, Nicole realized that Sheriff Nedley had been trying to protect her when he'd told her that Purgatory was just a small town with slightly dangerous perks.  It hadn't worked of course, but after surviving her first apocalypse she belatedly appreciated the thought.   _'Since when was did it become my_ first  _apocalypse?'_ Nicole thought to herself as she got into her police cruiser.  Maybe it had something to do with the past few days - and, if she was being honest, the past few months - but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be last time the world would almost end during her life.  If she lived much longer anyways.  She'd already nearly died once, and would have been fatally shot if she hadn't had the sense to wear a goddamn bullet proof vest.  She hoped she wouldn't be adding to the list of, "Times I Could Have Definitely Died," any time soon.  She also hoped that today would be quiet to give her mind and her ribs a chance to recover.  At least she'd seen Waverly before her shift, even though Waverly had been... odd.  She guessed it was understandable, given that her oldest sister had died, what, less than a day ago?  

Her dispatch radio crackled into life.  "Officer Haught we have a break in reported in your vicinity. Please respond to the call at 244 Fifteenth Avenue."

She pressed a button on the side of the radio.  "On my way."  

She released the button and turned the key in the ignition, the engine coming to life with a disgruntled growl.  

"So much for a quiet day," she mumbled to herself.  

\---

244 Fifteenth Avenue was a nice house.  Real nice.  It was old too, but in good repair, with a worn picket fence surrounding the property.  As she parked her cruiser and turned the engine off, Nicole wondered, and not for the first time, if Waverly would like a house like that.  She wondered a lot about what Waverly would want, if what they wanted for their futures was similar, or compatible at all, and then she'd wonder if it was too soon to be wondering those things.  It probably was.  

Nicole got out of the car and between the time it took to get from the picket fence to the front door she was in her helpful-officer-of-the-law headspace.  She knocked politely on the door and a few moments later a woman in her late twenties with blonde hair and a worried face opened the door.  Nicole recognized her as Marnie Stanton.  

"I'm officer Nicole Haught, I'm here about the break in," Nicole said when Marnie didn't say anything.  

Marnie nodded and headed into the house, leaving the door open.  Nicole took that as a sign to follow.  

Marnie settled in the kitchen which was within sight of the front door, which Nicole closed behind her.  Marnie was wringing her hands absently, and Nicole made the executive decision to pretend that Marnie might break if she wasn't as gentle as humanly possible.  Not that she wouldn't be anyways, but it was extra motivation to ignore the pain and lack of sleep.  Nicole made her way over to the kitchen table and sat opposite Marnie.  She placed a tape recorder on the table and turned it on.  

"Hi Marnie, do I have permission to record our interview together?" Nicole asked, finger poised to turn it off if Marnie said no.  

"Go ahead."

"Okay, thank you," Nicole said, pulling her hand back and sitting up straight.  "Okay... so... lets go over what happened here."

Marnie licked her lips before speaking, and when she spoke it all came out in a nervous, emotional rush.  "Phil and I went to go see my sister in the city for the weekend, and when we got home the backdoor was unlocked.  I was  _sure_ we'd locked it when we left, but Phil thought I was being forgetful, but I know we never leave it open these days, not since that business at the party.  I went to the neighbors and I left Phil to look around."  

Nicole paused, taking her words in.

"Okay, and did Phil find anything?" she asked.  

"Phil had left some cash on the dresser, my jewelry was still there."

For someone who hadn't had anything stolen she seemed incredibly upset, but, Nicole reasoned, it was most likely the fact that the break-in had occurred that had shaken her.  

"Well was anything missing?" Nicole tried.  

"Maybe?"

Nicole blinked.  "W-what do you mean by that?"

Marnie continued to fiddle with her hands, her brow scrunched  up in thought.  "In the basement a few of the floorboards were ripped up, a-an-and there was this smell, it... it smelled like, um, like cloves?"

"Uh, would would you mind if I, if I went down and took a look?"

"No, of course not"  

Marnie got up, appearing slightly stronger and a tad more composed, but just a tad.  Nicole followed her to the door that hid the stairs to the basement and then down them.  The basement was pretty much empty except for a couple bare shelves and an end table.  In the center of it was the ripped up floorboard.  

"Why would someone tear up the floorboards?" Nicole asked, defending the last two steps and going to crouch beside the hole in the floor.  It was long, almost half the length of the floor.  

"I don't know, we just moved in."

"Do you know the previous owners?" Nicole asked as she stood up.  

"We bought it at an auction..." Marnie looked like she was somewhat rethinking the purchase.  "I, I think I have the lawyer's information upstairs

"Oh, well, I-that would be great, thank you so much."  Nicole took a deep breath.  "Okay, well, in the meantime, you really should change your locks, I'll ask around, see what I can find out." she pulled her card out of her pocket.  "Here, this is my card, you call me if you think of anything else."  

Marnie hurried up the stairs, presumably to go look for the lawyer's information.  

Nicole took a couple photos of the hole in the basement floor for reference.  Either the item had been long, like a cane or a rifle, or the their had tried several different spots before finding whatever it was or giving up.  There was a smell in the basement, like strong orange scented air freshener.  It invaded Nicole's nose with out her having to inhale.  She didn't know if the smell had anything to do with the break in, but Marnie had mentioned it.  Nicole headed up the stairs to wait for Marnie in the kitchen.  

\---

After another quick conversation with Marnie Stanton once she'd come back with the lawyer's contact information, Nicole headed back to her car.  Once she started the it she turned on her audio recorder and began to drive.  

"Officer Nicole Haught," she identified per protocol.  "Okay, these are observations from come scene located at 244 Fifteenth Avenue in Purgatory.  Homeowners are Marnie and Phil Stanton, a break in was reported on Sunday at at 1600 hours, backdoor was unlocked and the homeowner reports that they left it locked when they left on Friday.  Uh, the door didn't appear to be damaged, no valuables were reported missing.  In the basement I did notice that one of the floorboards was torn up and there was a lingering scent of... citrus and clove.  Homeowner recently purchased the house from an estate administered by Purgatory lawyer Andrea Johnson.  The damage in the basement was very specific, only one single floorboard was torn up, it makes me think the perp was familiar with the home.  As far as the backdoor, homeowner may have left unlocked, or... the perp may have had a key.  I advised the homeowners to change the locks and keep an eye out for any unusual activity."  


	2. Sleep Is a Luxury Others Can Afford

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Officer Haught does her best to follow up on her own case while helping Wynonna, Waverly, and the rest with breaking into the BBD to rescue Dolls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Thank you to DarkWiccan for pointing about a small error on my part in chapter one!

_Hi Jen! I missed seeing you at the town hall meeting a few weeks ago. We really need to go for coffee soon to catch up! Can you run a deed trace on a property for me? It’s located at 244 Fifteenth Avenue, Purgatory. The current owners are Marnie and Phil Stanton._

_Thanks!_

_Nicole_

_Officer Nicole Haught_  
_Purgatory Sheriff’s Office_  
_Office: 555-0145_

Nicole read over the email she'd just sent.  It was good enough.  She pulled up the the transcript that she'd requested from Nedley of the Stanton's 911 call.  It was pretty standard, except for Marnie's reluctance at having an officer sent over to the scene.  That woman was a little odd - normal odd, not Purgatory odd.  After reading over the transcript another half-dozen times, Nicole gave up and pulled out her phone to shoot Waverly a quick text.  

_NH -Did Wynonna find anything at the hotel?-_

"Hey Ruth?" Nicole called out to the elderly woman at a nearby desk.  

Officer Ruth Gainsbur was the only other woman on the force, and was somewhere between 40 and death.  She looked like her only emotion was "done with your shit," and had the voice of a long time smoker, though Nicole figured she'd quit some time ago as she'd never seen her take a smoke break.  

"What?" Ruth said, not looking up from her paperwork.  

"Do you know anything about 244 Fifteenth Avenue?" Nicole asked, not letting Ruth's grump get to her.  

"Should I?" Ruth was now looking at her over the top of her wire rimmed glasses.  

"There was a break in there early this morning."  

"And they stuck you with it?"  

Nicole couldn't tell if the concern hidden deep in her words was for her or the case.  Regardless, Nicole nodded.  

Ruth pulled her glasses further down her nose to give Nicole a piercing stare.  "When did you last sleep?"  

Nicole shrugged.  

"Good gracious..." Ruth mumbled, turning her attention back to her papers.  

Nicole's phone buzzed.  It was a text from Waverly.  

_WE -I think so.  Come over.-_

Nicole sighed.  

_NH -I'm on duty.-_

_WE -Yeah.  Come over.-_

Nicole sighed again, deeper this time, and stuck her phone into her back pocket.  

"Ruth?"  

Ruth acknowledged her with a disapproving glare.  

"Could you cover for me?" Nicole asked.  

"Waverly?" Ruth asked, monotone.  

"Waverly," Nicole answered, not sure what Ruth was thinking.  

"Go before I change my mind."  

"Thank you," Nicole breathed, hurrying to do as Ruth said.  

\---

It was alright at first, running back up.  It meant she knew what was happening.  She was in the loop.  She was helping rescue Dolls, a man she considered a friend, and she was protecting Waverly.  

And then it wasn't alright.  

She could hear everything and she couldn't help.  She could hear the demon that nearly killed Waverly and the poor lab tech.  She could hear the gunshot that killed the agent and new ally whose name she hadn't learned yet.  She could hear, just barely, Waverly whispering into the ear piece for Nicole to run.  

So Nicole had.  

And now she was back at the Sherrif's office.  Alone.  She settled down at her desk to take care of everything she'd abandoned when Waverly had texted the day before.  God, why did she abandon everything?  She let out a growl of frustration, then took a deep breath before she got carried away.  It wasn't like she'd really abandoned everything.  She'd just left to follow up on an unofficial case as unofficial official backup.  She was useful, whether or not any of the rest of the Earp crew saw it.  She knew why Waverly was trying to protect her, but she didn't want to be protected.  Out of all of them she was the one who'd trained to serve and protect. If anything, she should be the one keeping all of them safe.  

But no, she'd run like she'd been told to.  At least they'd all been fine when she'd checked on them that morning.  

Her phone buzzed.  Waverly.  

_WE -Hey.-_

She considered ignoring it, but even the thought made her feel completely awful. 

_NH -Hey.-_

_WE -Everything okay?...-_

_NH -It's fine.  Wynonna Okay?-_

_WE -She's tough.-_

_NH -Okay.  Night.-_

_WE -Night.-_

Nicole put her phone down.  Ignoring the burning feeling of self-pity, self-doubt, guilt, and hurt mixing toxically in her stomach, Nicole pulled up her email account to check to see if Jen had emailed her back.  

"Oh thank god," she whispered when she saw the little "1" box popped up to signify an email in her inbox.  

_Hi Nicole, It’s nice to hear from you! We definitely need to catch up sometime soon. I’m super swamped right now and will add the trace to my to do list. Give me a couple days. Thanks!_

_Jen La_

_Chief Planning Officer_  
_Purgatory Town Hall – Lands Division_  
_Office: 555.0182_

Couple of days.  Fantastic.  Fan-effing-tastic.  Mustering the last of her politeness, Nicole typed out the worlds quickest "thank you for your time" email she'd ever sent.  She could deal with everything in the morning.  She let her head fall to her desk as she remembered she had the sunrise to afternoon shift.  It was already two AM.  At least she would have a quieter day than today.  She hadn't slept in at least 48 hours, she was looking forward to at least a couple hours of sleep.  

The dispatch radio crackled and she groaned.  

"Officer Haught we have a break in reported at St. Jude's Psychiatric. Sheriff Nedley has taken the call and requested you follow up in the morning with the CEO, Jonathan Lewis."  

Nicole cursed loudly.  


End file.
